About Rich Habits
Our story
Three kids from Homewood, Alabama wanted a shirt they’d actually wear. Four years later, 100+ programs in 25 states wear ours.
Chapter 1 Before 2022
Before the company
Growing up
Rich Habits began in Homewood, Alabama, but the instinct behind it is older than the company. Throughout school I was always building something: I organized basketball leagues and a citywide tournament, and I started several small ventures of my own.
None of them lasted, and none of them needed to. Each one taught me something the company would later require.
Middle school
Three friends from those years figure throughout this history. Carter Vail and I have been friends since middle school; he started at point guard for Homewood High School (opens in a new tab) for four years and captained the team. Sam Carr, Carter’s closest friend, played varsity football as an eighth grader before turning to tennis. Charlie Reeves has been my friend since our first day of school. In his senior season he caught 51 passes for 11 touchdowns, and he played No. 2 doubles for Homewood’s state runner-up tennis team.
Seventh grade
Wrestling came to me by chance. In seventh grade I tried out for middle-school football at 75 pounds and was far too small to play, and Coach Perry suggested that I wrestle instead. I took his advice and was drawn at once to how demanding the sport is.
After eighth grade I joined Ironclad Wrestling Club (opens in a new tab), where I met Jake Elkins and his brothers. They taught me a great deal and became some of my closest friends, and the Ironclad room would matter again a few years later.
Spring 2022
Before Folkstyle Nationals in the spring of 2022, my dad asked me a simple question: was I skipping the weight cut because it was hard, or because I did not want to make it?
The honest answer was that it was hard, so I made the cut. That weekend I won the 2022 USMC Folkstyle national title.
Chapter 2 2022
The first shirt
Summer 2022
The summer before our senior year, several of us tried to launch a golf apparel brand. The concept involved too many steps, and the effort soon faded.
July 2022
In July, Carter and I met at a coffee shop downtown, near the stadium, and decided that the two of us would commit fully to clothing. We made our first shirts that same day. The name came from the words on a hoodie Carter owned, and the first logo was a globe I drew in Photoshop with help from a friend. Just before school started, we asked Sam Carr to join us.
Fall 2022
Our first office was the upstairs of the Ironclad facility, which we rented from Jake together with our first heat press. The first run was about forty Birmingham tees, printed on the softest blanks we could find. We opened orders before a single shirt was printed, and the run sold out on the first day. Carter and I pressed every shirt ourselves.
The first shirt
Shipping day
August 28, 2022
On August 28, 2022, we registered the company as Developing Habits, LLC. The name was deliberate: it describes a company that is still developing, built to promote good things. We introduced it at a launch party in a downtown law office, complete with a red carpet, a step-and-repeat and a presentation for every friend who attended. Some of our classmates did not take us seriously. We kept going.
Fall 2022
That fall brought two opportunities we had not anticipated. Luh Soldier (opens in a new tab), a well-known rapper and professional MMA fighter who trains at Ironclad, asked us to make shirts for a music-video shoot, and we were on set when it was filmed. We later released the Hitmaker tees together.
The second came from Michael McGee (opens in a new tab), who ordered Team McGee shirts for his camps and became one of our first customers outside Alabama. We are grateful for that early trust, and years later he coached at our Slam Camp.
Chapter 3 2023
The turn to teams
February 2023
My senior season ended at the AHSAA (opens in a new tab) Class 6A state tournament. The 138-pound final was scoreless through regulation and both overtime periods, and I won it 2–1 in the ultimate rideout. I finished the year 53-2.
Spring 2023
Our second streetwear tee did not sell. Around the same time, Coach Perry asked us to make shirts for Homewood Wrestling, and I made them at cost. That order changed the direction of the company. Teams need new gear every season and it has to match, yet very few companies were making it well at a price a public-school program could afford.
Before leaving for college, I designed Ironclad’s full team pack, including the singlet: the first singlet Rich Habits ever produced.
Fall 2023
Sam Carr stepped away that year to focus on school and his fraternity, with our full support, and he remains a supporter of the company.
I enrolled at Arizona State (opens in a new tab) and trained with the Sunkist Kids (opens in a new tab); Carter enrolled at the University of Alabama (opens in a new tab). For a year the company ran on Shopify (opens in a new tab), spreadsheets and phone calls between two states, and it grew nonetheless: Southside, Weaver (opens in a new tab) and Mortimer Jordan (opens in a new tab), then a run of orders from Arizona.
That year we also found a manufacturing partner online. The relationship began with shirts and, over three years, became the backbone of our production.
- Homewood, AlabamaOur first programs
- Tempe, ArizonaArizona State
Chapter 4 2024 to 2026
Building the company
August 2024
Vincenzo Joseph (opens in a new tab) recommended me to Grant Leeth, and in 2024 I transferred to Tarleton State (opens in a new tab). That August the program opened its new wrestling room.
Rich Habits made the team’s gear, and Nico Egbalic and I competed in it.
2024 to 2025
The team grew through people we already knew and trusted. Nico, from Las Vegas, took over our social media in the fall of 2024. Heather Ormiston, the mother of a younger Ironclad teammate, took over production and became our Chief Operating Officer. Since then, every order we make has passed through her hands, from approved proof to delivery. Charlie built our Greek-life, event and faith-merchandise business from his campus. Ty Parker joined in 2025 and now receives, inspects and ships every order from Stephenville, Texas.
In the fall of 2024, working from a dorm room, I began writing the software the company now runs on, and I continue to build systems for other businesses.
Camps
Over three years we have hosted nine camps and events: four in Birmingham, two in Dallas, and one each in Las Vegas, Tennessee and Daphne. Each one was coached by NCAA All-Americans.
In Texas, our Slam Camp is co-hosted by our partners at XOXO Reece (opens in a new tab).
- Birmingham
- Las Vegas
- Dallas
- Birmingham
- Dallas
- Birmingham
- Tennessee
- Birmingham
- Daphne
The gear
Wrestling remains the center of our work: singlets and full team packs for high schools, clubs and youth programs, from Spain Park (opens in a new tab) to Skull and Crossbones WC.
Beyond the mat
The same standard carries beyond wrestling: into basketball jerseys, into the Greek-life, event and faith merchandise Charlie sells across the Southeast, and into the shirts we make for our own camps and tournaments.
Pickleball
Carter’s tournament in Birmingham.
By then, the globe on our backdrop had given way to the RH monogram.
2026
The friends who started the company remain part of it. In 2026, Carter chose to step back into the role of Executive Partner, with my full support.
I now lead the company as Chief Executive Officer and oversee its finances and technology. I am based in Chapel Hill, where I train at Tar Heel RTC (opens in a new tab) and work alongside my business partner at Bloom Media (opens in a new tab).
Chapter 5 For coaches
How an order works
If you are a coach ordering custom gear for the first time, this is how the process works. Every order passes through seven steps, and each step has a named owner, so you always know whom to ask. From approved proof to delivery, every order is in the hands of Heather Ormiston, our Chief Operating Officer.
The ask
Owner: A rep or Sam
You reach out with your roster size, budget and idea, and a rep or Sam replies the same day with a quote. Custom orders start at 25 pieces, and you can mix any items and designs to get there. Singlets start at $50. Orders of only singlets and T-shirts can start at 5 pieces, with a small-order charge.
A rendering of the Rockwall Wrestling pack. The design
Owner: Sam or the design team
We turn your idea into a rendering, so you see the design on the actual garment before anything is made. You'll see your first mockups within a week. Design is free: your first concept and two rounds of changes are included. After that, each extra round of changes is $35, and we always ask first.
The proof
Owner: You
You approve the final artwork and colors in writing and enter your sizes. Half the order total starts production, and the rest is due 15 days after your gear arrives. Once your deposit is paid (or your PO is signed or quote accepted), your order is committed to production and can't be cancelled. Deposits are not refunded.
Production
Owner: Heather
Heather sends the approved pack and exact colors to a manufacturing partner we’ve worked with since 2023. Singlets and shorts are sublimated; tops are printed or embroidered.
Quality check
Owner: Ty
Every order arrives in Stephenville, Texas, where Ty opens, counts and inspects it before anything ships to you.
Delivery
Owner: Ty
Production takes 21–30 days once your design is approved, sizes are in and your deposit is paid, then 3–5 business days to ship. Orders of 25 or more ship free to one US address; smaller orders pay actual shipping. Rush production takes 10–14 days once our team confirms the date. Team Store orders take 21–30 days of production after the store closes, then 3–5 business days to ship.
After
Owner: A rep or Sam
Reorders match the original run, and a Fan Store can stay open for parents and fans. Something wrong on our side? Tell us within 14 days of delivery and the balance on those items waits until we've fixed it. Defects are replaced free for 40 days.
Chapter 6 The team
The people
Sam Sutton
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
- Co-founded Rich Habits with Carter Vail in 2022
- Leads the company and oversees its finances and technology
- Writes the software the company runs on and builds systems for other businesses, including JV Gold (opens in a new tab), a private-lesson platform for a California training business
Wrestled for Homewood and Tarleton State (opens in a new tab), trained at Arizona State (opens in a new tab) with the Sunkist Kids (opens in a new tab), and now trains at Tar Heel RTC (opens in a new tab) in Chapel Hill.
Heather Ormiston
Chief Operating Officer
- Heritage College and Seminary: a double major in Religious Education and Christian School Education
- Four years teaching elementary grades in a Christian school, and seven years running her own daycare
- Seven years in wrestling, as a team mom and as a coach, including girls’ coach at Southside; ten years as a youth group leader
Heather owns production. She sends every approved pack, in its exact colors, to our manufacturing partner and sees each order through to delivery. Her son Ephram was Sam’s younger teammate at Ironclad.
Carter Vail
Co-Founder and Executive Partner
- Four-year starting point guard and captain at Homewood
- University of Alabama (opens in a new tab), Culverhouse College of Business (opens in a new tab)
- Executive Partner since 2026
The company’s name came from his hoodie. He led the first designs, the launch and every early shipment, and he organized our pickleball tournament.
Charlie Reeves
Sales, Southeast: Greek life, events, business and faith merchandise
- Senior season at Homewood: 51 catches, 685 yards and 11 touchdowns; All-South Metro
- No. 2 doubles on Homewood’s 2023 Class 6A state runner-up tennis team
- Has sold for Rich Habits since his first year of college
Sam’s friend since the first day of school and one of our founding salespeople. Our fraternity and event business exists because of him.
Ty Parker
Fulfillment
- Receives, inspects, packs and ships every order from Stephenville, Texas
- With the company since 2025
Ty and Sam met at Tarleton State.
Nico Egbalic
Social Media Manager
- Nevada high school state champion
- Tarleton State wrestler at 157 pounds; 2025 conference runner-up
- Has run our social media since the fall of 2024
Sam’s teammate at Tarleton State.
Sam Carr, founding member
Sam Carr played varsity football as an eighth grader, played tennis alongside Charlie, and is the third name on the LLC. He stepped away in 2023 to focus on school and his fraternity, and he remains a supporter of the company. His photographs appear in Chapter 2.
Nicole Shields served as our Operations Manager before Heather.
Chapter 7 Why
What it’s for
The name
Rich Habits was never about money. It began as the words on a hoodie and became a description of what we are trying to build: a group of people with good habits, doing good work and promoting good things.
Our legal name remains Developing Habits, because that is the honest version of the same idea.
The reason
I am a Christian, and I regard this company as an act of stewardship: to do excellent work, charge a fair price, give back to the sport that shaped me, and treat every coach like family.
The promise
Elite gear should not require an elite budget. Every program and every athlete deserves the same standard.
Chapter 8 Today
On the record
100+ programs25 states10,000+ athletes21–30-day productionEst. 2022, Birmingham, Alabama
“They give us all that stuff for a lower price than bigger companies do for half the amount of gear. We trust Sam.”
Press
- Rich Habits advances in sports apparel market (opens in a new tab)
- Sam Sutton Explains Move From ASU To Tarleton State (opens in a new tab)
- Results: the 2023 AHSAA state wrestling championships (opens in a new tab)
- Sutton’s path as young entrepreneur (opens in a new tab)
- Results: 2022 USMC Folkstyle Nationals
Partners
- Bloom Media (opens in a new tab)
- Websites and creative work, with Sam’s business partner Justin Benjamin.
- Normal Finance (opens in a new tab)
- Collaborator.
- Sutton Financial (opens in a new tab)
- Trusted CPA.
- XOXO Reece (opens in a new tab)
- Co-host of Texas Slam Camp.
Don’t live an ordinary life. Seek out your rich one.